Charles saw dried blood spreading across the bedsheets, running all the way to the foot of the bed. Even the cracks in the floor had been seeped into by that ominous dark red.
The crows were still calling outside the window.
Charles did not find this scene frightening, because he could not sense an atmosphere of terror here. The blood had even become as ordinary as the decorative patterns on the sheets, proving that Erik had never felt fear because of it.
But this was something that should have been frightening. Charles frowned. He could even clearly see a woman screaming on the bed, her belly swollen with pregnancy, being startled during labor... It had to have been a fright. There was another, faint scent of fear here.
Charles took two steps farther inside and, sure enough, found messy footprints on the balcony. Someone had broken in while Erik's wife was giving birth. They had frightened the pregnant woman, ultimately causing a difficult delivery.
Charles had medical training, so he could tell that the delivery had not gone smoothly. In the end, the Doctor kneeling half beside the birthing bed had chosen to perform an episiotomy. There had been so much blood that the place had practically become a pool of it.
The pregnant woman and the child must both have been in terrible condition. Though Charles did not know much about obstetrics, he knew that in such circumstances, both mother and child could easily die.
Perhaps that was the main reason Anya had died before reaching six years old. The difficult birth had left her lungs and heart inherently weak, requiring long-term use of a ventilator.
Then what about Erik's wife? Had she survived? Charles was somewhat puzzled. Under those circumstances, the chances of survival were slim. But if